Top-ranked Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor remained atop Monday’s latest AP Top 25, where they have been for all 13 polls this season. And after Illinois rose one spot to No. 5, that put the top of the AP poll in sync with the initial rankings of the top 16 seeds released Saturday by the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.
Illinois climbed to the top 5 for the second time this season, the other coming in late November, for the program’s highest ranking since reaching No. 1 during the 2004-05 season. The Illini dipped to No. 22 by January but have won five straight, including against Iowa and No. 21 Wisconsin.
Among teams that didn’t lose last week, AP voters were a bit higher on No. 7 Virginia (seeded ninth), No. 9 Oklahoma (12th), No. 11 Iowa (13th) and No. 12 Texas (15th) following wins that came later Saturday. In addition, Alabama rose three spots to No. 8 in the AP poll to pull closer to the committee’s seeding of seventh overall shortly before the Crimson Tide scored 115 points in a win over against Georgia.
Sixth-ranked Houston (seeded eighth) didn’t play after the committee released its rankings.
No. 11 Iowa climbed four spots after a pair of Big Ten wins, first against a ranked Rutgers team at home. Then came Saturday’s 30-point win at Michigan State, the worst home loss in coach Tom Izzo’s tenure with the Spartans.
No. 20 Missouri took the biggest tumble, falling 10 spots after losses at Mississippi and at home to Arkansas in Southeastern Conference play last week. The Tigers had cracked the top 10 last week for the first time since December 2012.
Oklahoma State (No. 23), Purdue (No. 24) and Rutgers (No. 25) fell out of the poll. Kansas was one of three new additions to this week’s poll, joined by No. 24 Arkansas and No. 25 San Diego State. It marked the Razorbacks’ first appearance since January 2018, while the Aztecs spent two weeks in the poll in December.
The strength of the Big Ten this season is its top-end teams and their strong finish to the regular season. The result of that in the updated Coaches Poll on Monday is that three of the teams from the conference own spots in the top five, with Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois ranking Nos. 3, 4 and 5.
It also has representation throughout the poll as well with Iowa ranking 14th and Wisconsin 21st.
The Big 12 also has an impressive turnout in the poll with Baylor once again coming in at No. 2 and Oklahoma moving into the top 10 at No. 10. Texas Tech, Texas and West Virginia are ranked 11th, 13th and 15th, while Oklahoma State stayed at No. 22 and Kansas -- after a one-week stint out of the rankings -- jumped back in.
